Stephen PRETTY (1831–1874)
His wife Mrs Sarah EDDLES, formerly Mrs Pretty, née Hale (c.1826–1909)
St Paul section: Row 38, Grave H15 [St Paul ref O34]
In Affectionate Remembrance of
STEPHEN PRETTY
WHO DIED AUG. 19, 1874
AGED 43 YEARS.
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IN THE MIDST OF LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH
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ALSO OF SARAH
WIFE OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED DEC. 23, 1909
AGED 83 YEARS
Stephen Pretty was born in Holt, Wiltshire in 1831 and baptised there on 3 April. He was the son of the gardener William Pretty and Mary Bailey.
At the time of the 1841 census he was ten years old and living at Bradford, Wiltshire with his parents and his older brothers James, Samuel, Benjamin, and John, and his younger siblings Job, Mary, and Josiah.
In 1851 when he was aged 20 he was living at the part of Cowley in the Borough of Oxford, and working as the gardener of the auctioneer John Fisher.
Sarah Hale was born in Tingewick, Buckinghamshire in 1825/6, the daughter of the farmer William Hale and his wife Mary. At the time of the 1841 census she was 14 years old and living at Tingewick with her parents and her brothers William (15) and Jonathan (9)
At the time of the 1851 census Sarah (24) was working as the cook for the brewer James Morrell senior, a widower of 77, on Headington Hill, in the old house later to be incorporated into Headington Hill Hall by James Morrell junior.
On 9 March 1856 at St Paul’s Church, Oxford, Stephen Pretty, described as being of Stanton, Wiltshire, married Sarah Hale, who was then living at Cardigan Street in Jericho. They do not appear to have had any children.
At the time of the 1861 census Stephen (30) and Sarah (33) were living at Stanton Fitzwarren in Wiltshire, where Stephen was working as a gardener at the Rectory.
By the time of the 1871 census they had moved to Oxford and were living in Great Clarendon Street, where they were to spend the rest of their lives. George Hale (28) was paying them a visit, and they had a 70-year-old widow lodging with them.
Stephen Pretty was still working as a gardener at the time of his death three years later:
† Stephen Pretty died at Great Clarendon Street at the age of 43 on 19 August 1874 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 August (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).
His effects came to under £200, and his widow was his executor..
On Christmas Day 1879 at St Paul’s Church, Oxford , his widow Mrs Sarah Pretty, née Hale married her second husband, the carpenter Edwin Eddles (49), a widower of 3 Victor Street. He came to live in her house, bringing two teenage sons from his first marriage.
At the time of the 1881 census Edwin & Sarah Eddles were living at 18 Great Clarendon Street with Thomas Eddles (19), who was a carpenter, and Henry Eddles (15), who was a printer’s apprentice. In 1891 and 1901 they were living there alone.
Edwin Eddles died at 18 Great Clarendon Street in July 1901, and was probably buried with his first wife. (There is no record of their grave in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery, but his burial on 20 July is recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church.)
Mrs Sarah Eddles died near the end of 1909, and was buried with her first husband, Stephen Pretty, at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery:
† Mrs Sarah Eddles, formerly Mrs Pretty, née Hale died at 18 Great Clarendon Street at the age of 83 on 23 December 1909 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 27 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church).
Stephen Pretty's gravestone does not mention the fact that his wife Sarah was Mrs Eddles at the time of her death.
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